Sliding doors supported solely for substantially horizontal sliding movement are conventionally utilized within the interior of commercial buildings, such as office buildings, to separate various areas of the building. For example, such sliding doors are conventionally provided for permitting closure of a doorway or access between a workspace and an access region such as a corridor. Since horizontal sliding doors will naturally remain in a closed position due to their supportive construction, the door is typically not provided with a latch, but rather is conventionally provided with stationary handles or pulls associated with the exterior and interior surfaces of the door. When locking or latching of the door is desired so as to provide a privacy or security feature, then the door is traditionally provided with a separate lock assembly of conventional construction, which assembly provides a latching bolt such as a typical swinging bolt which cooperates with a stationary latch element associated with the adjacent door frame. The lock assembly typically has a manually rotatable handle associated with the inside of the door to permit manual rotating of the locking bolt between locked and released positions, and also traditionally has a key assembly associated with the exterior side for permitting movement of the locking bolt between locked and unlocked positions. Such arrangement, however, when opening of the locked door from the inside surface thereof is desired, requires two separate motions or manual manipulations, the first being a manual rotary motion for effecting release of the lock, and the second being a manual linear pushing motion against the handle to effect opening of the sliding door. In an emergency situation, however, particularly when an individual is within the work space and has the door closed and locked, the double motion required to effect an emergency release and opening of the door so as to provide access to a corridor or exterior region can be unduly complex. There thus exists a need for a simplified handle-lock arrangement which permits both unlocking and opening of the sliding door from the inside surface thereof without requiring dual or different manual manipulations so as to effect the unlocking and opening of the door.
There also exists a need for a simplified handle-lock arrangement which permits unlocking and opening of a sliding door by persons of limited or restricted manual dexterity since many of the existing arrangements, and the multiple motions required to effect unlocking and opening of the sliding door, have proven unduly difficult to operate for such persons.
The present invention relates to a sliding door having an improved handle and lock assembly associated therewith, which assembly overcomes the aforementioned disadvantage by enabling a closed and locked sliding door to be unlocked and opened by manual application of a single-motion to the door handle, such as a substantially horizontally-directed force applied to the door handle in the opening direction so as to effect unlocking or unlatching of the door followed by movement of the sliding door into an open position.
The handle-lock assembly provided on a sliding door according to the present invention includes a single-motion door handle, typically disposed for swinging movement through a small angular extent, and coupled through a motion transfer device to a bolt member which is movably carried on the door, typically for sliding or pivoting movement, and when moved into a locked or latching position is engageable with a retainer structure fixed to an adjacent frame or jamb member to hold the door in a closed position. To effect unlocking and opening of the door, the handle is engaged and manually swingably moved through a small angle by application of a manual force thereto generally in the door opening direction, which handle movement acting through the motion transfer mechanism causes the bolt member to move into an unlocked or unlatched position relative to the adjacent frame or jamb. The continued application of manual force to the handle, upon release of the bolt member, then effects movement of the sliding door in its opening direction. The door unlocking and opening is hence controlled by basically a single force applied generally in the opening direction and applied to only a single activating member, such as a swingable handle.
In the handle-lock assembly of the invention, in one embodiment thereof, to effect closing of the door a manual force oriented in the door closing direction is applied to the handle, causing the handle to swing through a small arcuate extent, which is permitted due to lost motion provided in the motion transfer mechanisms such that the bolt member is not displaced, with continued application of said force on the handle in the closing direction then causing the door to move into a closed position. If latching or locking of the door in the closed position is desired, then the door on at least one side thereof (such as on the inside or privacy side) may be provided with a separate latching or locking actuator, such as a conventional thumb turn member interconnected to the bolt member such that turning of the thumb turn member through a typical arcuate extent, such as for example 90°, effects sliding or swinging movement of the bolt member into a position of engagement with the adjacent jamb or frame. The manual movement of the thumb turn member and the corresponding movement of the bolt member, however, do not effect the position of the main handle since the lost motion associated with the motion transfer mechanism permits the thumb turn member to effect the desired closing or locking movement of the bolt member without causing movement of the main handle.
In the present invention, according to one embodiment thereof, there is provided a sliding door which is supported, such as rollingly supported, on a horizontally elongate track which extends along one of the upper or lower edges of the door, typically the upper edge. The door has handles on opposite sides which can be manually gripped to permit opening and closing of the door. The door also has a lock mechanism associated therewith, and disposed in the vicinity of the handles. The lock mechanism includes a rotary cylinder which, through an appropriate motion converting mechanism of conventional construction, effects linear extending and contracting movement of an elongate lock bolt which is vertically slidably supported on the door and, when extended, projects from the edge thereof for locking engagement with the track (or header or floor) when the door is in the closed position. The lock mechanism has a manually actuated actuator (such as a thumb turn or push button) on the inner side thereof for effecting rotation of the lock cylinder during locking movement, and is also preferably provided with a key-activated cylinder on the outer side of the door for effecting locking and unlocking movement of the lock bolt. The handle on the inside of the door is a vertically elongate lever supported for pivoting movement about one end thereof, and is movable through an angular extent between first and second end positions which define a small angle therebetween, with the handle preferably remaining in a dominantly vertical orientation at all times. The pivot for the handle lever is coupled through a motion-transmitting mechanism to the lock cylinder so that, when the door is in a closed and locked position, movement of the handle from one end position to the opposite end position, due to application of a generally sidewardly oriented opening force and motion against one side of the handle, causes the lock to be rotated to retract the bolt. After the handle moves through the angular extent, the continued application of the sideward force against the side of the handle is effective for moving the door into the open position. The application of a single-direction force and motion against the handle is hence effective for initially unlocking the door and thereafter effecting movement thereof to the open position.
In the arrangement of the present invention, as aforesaid, the mechanism which couples the handle pivot to the lock cylinder preferably includes a lost-motion connection which, when the handle is swung back from the second end position to the first end position during closing of the door, permits the handle to be swingably displaced without effecting actuation of the lock. In the closed position of the door, the lock can then be individually selectively actuated, such as by manually applying an actuating force to the actuator associated with the lock cylinder.
In the arrangement of this invention, the activation of the lock into a locked position can be individually controlled and activated by the occupant of the workspace defined adjacent the inside surface of the door, when the door is in a closed position, so that activation of the lock is hence selective and independent from the movement of the handle during the door closing movement. However, opening of the sliding door, particularly in an emergency situation, can be effected by a single directional movement or force, namely the substantially horizontal sideward application of a manual force against the side of the vertically-elongate handle so as to cause the handle to initially move through a small angular extent to its opposite end position, which hence drives the lock cylinder to retract the lock bolt, with continued application of this sidewardly-directed force against the handle thereafter being effective to cause the door to be horizontally moved into its open position. Since the handle is vertically elongate and remains in a dominantly vertical orientation when in or during movement through the small angular extent between the two end positions, the swinging movement of the handle and the subsequent opening movement of the door can all be easily accomplished by the application of a generally sidewardly and substantially horizontally applied manual force-against one side of the handle.
In the arrangement of the present invention, the movement of the locking bolt, whether it be slidable or pivotal, is controlled by a rotary locking member or cylinder which, due to its rotary displacement from an unlocking position to a locking position, controls the disposition of the bolt so that the latter is in a locking position extending from the door. The rotary movement of the locking member or cylinder in one direction is controlled by the opening movement of the main door handle so as to automatically effect retracting movement of the bolt into its unlocked position to permit opening of the sliding door. Rotary movement of the locking member or cylinder in the opposite direction, however, so as to move the bolt into a locking position may be independent of the handle so as to be controlled by a separate actuator provided on the door, such as a thumb turn handle or a key cylinder. The bolt may be mounted for sliding movement on the door, such as adjacent either or both of the upper and lower edges thereof for cooperation with a header or the floor, or with appropriate rails or tracks which guide the upper and lower edges of the door, or may be swingably mounted on the door for cooperation with an adjacent vertical jamb or frame element when the door is in the closed position.
Other objects and purposes of the invention will be apparent to persons familiar with constructions of this type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following descriptions for convenience in reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the door or designated parts of the door handle and locking mechanism. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.